Last month, I wrote an article, Lobbyist Hired by City of New Bern has Ties to Aldermen that outlined the City of New Bern entering into an agreement to pay Old North Strategies (ONS), a lobbyist company $12,500 per month for “consulting and legislative advocacy services” during the May 25, 2021, Board of Aldermen (BOA) meeting.
It has taken awhile to collect and research information. So, let’s unpack it.
I asked members of the Board of Aldermen to respond to the questions related to their decision to enter into an agreement with Old North Strategies lobbying business. City Manager Foster Hughes asked that the Public Information Officer (PIO) Colleen Roberts respond to my questions.
What was ONS paid $87,500 to do for the city? The PIO provided a letter from ONS that “proposed a Government Affairs and Strategic Communications engagement…will work to help New Bern achieve federal funding to implement the Greater Five Points Transformation Plan as well as seek additional federal funding opportunities for city infrastructure-related identified needs and opportunities.”
Although ONS did NOT obtain any funding for the city, Roberts justified spending $87,500 to “bring an awareness at the state and federal levels of New Bern’s needs within our distressed communities.”
Who are Old North Strategies? It was founded by Wayne King as a government and public affairs company in mid-2020. The City of New Bern is the only government client listed on their website.
Prior to starting ONS, he ran for the NC 11th Congressional District in 2020. He was also the Vice-Chairman of the NC Republican Party and worked for Congressmen Mark Meadows and Greg Murphy. Joe Murray is a strategic partner and the founding partner of First Principles Strategies, LLC. He worked with Senator Ron Johnson and Congressmen Jim Jordan, Steve Scalise, and Mark Meadows.
I asked who was the City Attorney M. Scott Davis referring to when he noted, “interest had been expressed in hiring a lobbyist” during the May 11, 2021, meeting? She responded, “Although the city attorney has no specific recollection, it was most likely from the city manager at the time.”
This isn’t the first time that the current board, city manager, or city attorney deferred responsibility to the former city manager or former department heads who aren’t available for comment.
In the same email, I asked how did the city discover this fledgling company? Her response was, “Old North Strategies first reached out to Alderman Odham with an introductory email in April 2021.”
It’s STILL unclear who recommended hiring this company.
In an email Roberts referred to dated April 12, 2021, King wrote to Alderman Jeffrey Odham, “Hope you’re doing well. I wanted to highlight an article that the National League of Cities published a few weeks ago. As you may have heard, earmarks are back in this congress. If the City of New Bern is looking to submit projects for potential funding, I would appreciate any consideration you could give me. As you know, I have great relationships with Dr. Murphy and both U.S. Senators.”
If this was an introductory email, why would King state, “As you know”? This leads me to believe that Odham and King had known each other or there was prior correspondence.
Noteworthy mention: the NC Fraternal Order of Police are a “Past & Present” Client of ONS and Odham’s campaign is backed by the local NC FOP. Coincidence?
In a letter dated April 26, King and Joe Murray wrote to Mark Stephens, city manager at the time, “We were honored to meet you, Mayor Outlaw and your City Council members to discuss a collaborative effort to advance the City of New Bern’s goals of community enhancements.”
A meeting happened between April 12 and 26 out of public view.
There was no public hearing or discussion during the May 25, 2021, BOA meeting. Here’s the agreement. Where’s the transparency?
Why didn’t Alderman Sabrina Bengel recuse herself from discussion and the vote? The Bengel family owns the Morehead City Marlins and they were listed as a client of ONS on their website.
Roberts said, “I spoke to Mr. Wayne King about your inquiry regarding a conflict of interest.” He made claims but did not provide documentation to support them. One of which was the MHC Marlins logo on the ONS website under “Past & Present Clients” was posted by his webmaster by mistake.
I know a lot of webmasters as I have been one. It’s hard to believe that a webmaster would make a mistake that is a copyright infringement – publishing a logo without consent. The logo was removed on June 8, 2022, after King was alerted of my inquiry.
Perhaps Buddy Bengel recommended his friend Wayne King to Davis as it’s clear from social media posts they knew each other prior to and in April 2021. Here’s one of many examples taken from a Twitter post: On November 3, 2020, Bengel posted a photo of King and tweeted, “So what are you hearing??? @TheWayneKing is eating Mac and cheese.”
Do you believe the Board of Aldermen were justified in spending $87,500 of taxpayer dollars to pay a start-up lobbying business without obtaining funding for the city?
Questions or comments? Send us an email.
By Wendy Card, Editor